Joint Task Force Report Sponsored By: The Governor of Pennsylvania &

Joint Task Force Report Sponsored By:The Governor of Pennsylvania &The Association of American Universities

Ensuring Quality Environments: The

Student Experience – 2010 & Beyond

AGENDA• Introduction• Alcohol Abuse on Campus

– Reality Versus Perception– Conditions that Contribute to the Challenge– The Role of the University Executive– The Impact of Concerned Student Groups

• Diversity & Climate at Penn State– Reality Versus Perception– Conditions that Contribute to the Challenge– Hiring Practices Related to Diversity– The Impact of Concerned Student Groups

• Comprehensive Analysis• Recommendations

– Combating Alcohol Abuse Holistically– Combating Penn State’s Party School Reputation– Building Diversity at Penn State– State Wide Policies to Foster Positive, Safe & Inclusive Campus Climates– Imploring Our Leaders to Lead

• Conclusion• References• Questions

Ensuring Quality Environments: The Student Experience – 2010 & Beyond

INTRODUCTION:

• July 2009, Princeton Review ranks The Pennsylvania State University as the top Party School in the United States

• Fall 2009, Alcohol related death of a first-year student on campus

• Increased dialogue across the Commonwealth regarding alcohol use on Pennsylvania’s college campuses

• Associate of American Universities express concern with the limited level of diversity on Pennsylvania’s and America’s college campuses

• October 2009: Task Force Appointed

• Charge: How universities and colleges are ensuring quality environments for their students

– Alcohol Abuse Issues– Executive Hiring Practices related to diversity and alcohol abuse prevention– Impact of concerned groups– Present recommendations for Penn State– Present recommendations for PASSHE school and the Association of American

Universities


Alcohol Abuse on Campus


Perception


Chart 1: Women's Perception v. Reported Behavior: Average Number of Drinks Consumed on a Typical

Evening (Taken from Pulse Student Drinking Survey, 2009)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Thursday Friday Saturday

Reality


Table 2: Total Alcohol-Academic Years 03/04-08/09

Charge Code AY 08/09

AY 07/08

AY 06/07

AY 05/06

AY 04/05 AY 03/04

8/22/08-

5/16/09

8/24/07-5/18/08

8/30/06-5/19/07

8/25/05-5/13/06

8/27/04-5/14/05

8/28/03-5/15/04

06.01—Prohibited Possession/Use of alcoholic beverages

412 290 677 601 520 795

06.02—Open Container in unauthorized area

8 8 15 15 8 1

06.03—Possession of kegs or beers balls on campus

4 1 1 2 4 2

06.04—Supplying to minors

18 3 12 5 7 6

06.05—Party responsibility

110 51 118 141 114 102

06.06—Driving while impaired/DUI

0 0 0 0 4 0

06.07—Excessive Consumption of Alcohol

131 65 101 53 51 57

06.99—Other 0 0 1 2 2 0

TOTAL 683 418 925 819 710 963

Table 3: Comparison of Residents to Alcohol Violations

Academic Year

Number of

Incidents

Undergrad.

Population

% of student violations

05-06 819 12,843 6.30%

06-07 925 13,906 6.80%

07-08 418 13,264 3.20%

08-09 685 13,924 4.92%

Conditions that Contribute to the Challenge• Prevalence of the Greek System

– Penn State has over 80 Greek chapters at the University Park campus• Large amount of intercollegiate athletics

– Penn State has 15 men’s and 14 women’s athletic teams• Location

– The northeastern part of the United States has traditionally had higher drinking rates than other parts of the country

• Demographic Indicators– White males students are most likely to participate in binge drinking

activities• 83% of Penn State students identify as white• 55% of Penn State students are male

• Availability– Higher density of establishments that serve alcohol as well as low

pricing of alcohol leads to greater consumption (Wechsler, 2001)• Within a mile radius of the downtown State College area there are over 20

places to buy and/or consume alcohol• There is a high prevalence of ‘Happy Hour’ specials which offer drinks to

patrons at significantly reduced prices


Reality

Year Centre County Total Gallonage Centre County Total Gal/Person

PA TotalGallonage

PA TotalGal/Person

1998 302,005 2.42 26,079,006 2.17

1999 318,465 2.55 27,193,222 2.26

2000 376,897 2.78 31,678,100 2.56

2001 346,557 2.55 28,309,477 2.30

2002 365,245 2.69 29,418,561 2.39

2003 397,433 2.93 31,406,045 2.56

2004 411,405 3.03 32,074,976 2.61

2005 439,783 3.24 33,475,173 2.70

2006 467,345 3.44 34,996,846 2.84

2007 476,632 3.51 35,845,813 2.92


Table 3: Total Sales of Liquor in Gallons Per Capita in Centre County and Pennsylvania

The Role of the University Executive• Three broad recommendations for the university President by The

President Leadership Group (1997)– Be Vocal, Be Visible, and Be Visionary

• Ensuring that various university elements communicate and cooperate• The Partnership Campus & Community United Against Dangerous

Drinking– The Vice President for Student Affairs and Vice President for University

Relations– Involving other line level executive– The Penn State Commission for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP)

• regarding an executive level administrator to oversee student alcohol abuse issues

• University Executive– serve as a nexus for all of the concerned university and community

constituents– should be at the Associate Vice President level– maintain to oversee all of the concerns


The Impact of Concerned Student Groups

• Focus on Student Groups Combating the Party School Culture• Late Night-Penn State/HUB Late Night

– Established September 1996

– Students wanted more late night alcohol free campus activities

– Includes at least 5 events every Friday and Saturday night with multiple events also occurring on Thursday and Sunday nights

• Late Night-Penn State is a national model for substance free student activity alternatives for students

• From it’s start with just a few student leaders, it has now been expanded to include Student Affairs Staff, Food Services Staff, and student run and organized committees



• Office of Health Promotion Located inside University Health Services.– 2 major prevention group initiatives:

• Health Works Peer Educators– Extensively trained student educators charged with delivering:

• engaging, and interactive presentation on health issues-special presentation on alcohol. • create materials such as bulletins boards and posters communicating healthy messages.

• Individual Peer Health Educators– BASICS Model – Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students.

• Trained students, specializing in alcohol intervention. • Both group & individual intervention sessions for students assigned to them. Consultation, education and prevention.

• Additional Student Group Resources: – LIFE HOUSE (Living in a Free Environment), – Asylum, – Thinking Before Drinking – PRIDE– The We Are Campaign– SPA– “Safe” Rides– Off Campus Student Union– Fraternities and Sororities (Greek Policies, training and education)


Diversity and Climate at Penn State


Perception


Table 5: Perceptions of Community at Penn State

To what extent do you believe Penn State is a community where:Percent SP 2004* Percent FA 2005*

Freedom of expression is protected 64.4 75.2

Hateful actions motivated by prejudice/bias are not tolerated NA 70.6

Service to others is encouraged 52.3 70.1

Civility is affirmed 53.3 61.3

Diversity is celebrated 52.3 53.3

Individuals accept their obligations to the Penn State community NA 52.6

Members of the community adhere to a high standard of behavior NA 42.8

*Percents represent those who indicated “substantially” or “extremely” Table taken from Penn State’s Division of Student Affairs PULSE Community Values Report, October 2005

Reality


Table 6: Enrollment by Ethnic Category As a Percent of Total Enrollment Fall 2009

Hisp /Latino

Am Ind/Alaska Native Asian

Black/ African American

Native Hawaiian/Pac Island

Two/ More Races

Sub-Total White

Race/ EthnicityUnknown

Inter-nat'l

2009 4.1 0.1 4.7 3.5 0.1 1.4 13.9 73.6 3.6 8.9

2008 3.4 0.1 5.3 3.9 0 0 12.7 79.1 0 8.2

2007 3.4 0.1 5.1 3.9 0 0 12.4 80.0 0 7.6

2006 3.1 0.1 5.3 4.0 0 0 12.4 80.3 0 7.3

2005 3.1 0.1 5.3 4.0 0 0 12.5 79.9 0 7.6

2004 3.0 0.1 5.2 4.0 0 0 12.4 79.8 0 7.8

2003 3.0 0.2 5.1 4.0 0 0 12.3 80.0 0 7.7

2002 3.0 0.2 4.9 4.0 0 0 12.0 80.5 0 7.5

2001 2.9 0.1 4.6 3.9 0 0 11.5 81.4 0 7.1

2000 2.8 0.2 4.6 3.9 0 0 11.5 81.9 0 6.7

1999 2.7 0.2 4.8 4.0 0 0 11.7 82.3 0 6.0

*Data taken from Penn State’s Common Data Set

Conditions that Contribute to the Challenge

• Identity Development• Challenges of Being One of Few• Lack of Race/Ethnic Minority Faculty• Curricular Content• Culturally Unresponsive Pedagogy• Campus Climate• Culturally Exclusive Environmental Norms• Utilization of Campus Support Systems• Lack of Diversity in Surrounding Community


Hiring Practices Related to Diversity

• Hiring Practices”: as a way of changing institutional culture (Richardson, 1994)– change its own cultural direction by hiring skilled

executives– send a message both to the internal and

external constituencies of the institution


The Impact of Concerned Student Groups• Diversity has become a task for Penn State with the development of

many social groups, recruitment efforts, and retention of underrepresented groups. Many of these groups are run by students for the benefit of underrepresented student populations

– HUB-Robeson Culture Center• “Safe Space” for underrepresented student groups to interact

– Multicultural Resource Center• Offers mentoring and advising. • Houses diverse student groups such as BOTH (Blends of Traditional Heritage)

and AASIA (Asian American Students in Action)

– Other Multicultural and Diverse Groups Include• Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life• SMART (Student Minority Advisory and Recruitment Team)• Rainbow Roudtable• S-Plan




Table 9University Executive by Gender and Ethnicity Fall 2009

Ethnicity female male %African American 0 3 8.3Hispanic 0 0 0Asian 0 0 0Native American 0 0 0White American 7 26 91.7

% 19.4 80.6



Table 13Comparative Table: Minorities as a percent of total (2001)

Total

EmployeesTenure Tenure-

track Faculty Administrators ExecutivePenn State University 7.71% 12.37% 7.07% 5.79%

Univ. of Colorado 16.64% 12.33% 23.99% 17.64%

Univ. of Indiana 9.29% 12.31% 6.70% 7.92%

Univ. of Michigan N/A 17.94% N/A N/A

Univ. of Oregon 9.89% 10.39% 11.18% 15.15%

Univ. of Virginia 19.22% 10.14% N/A 7.84%Univ. of Washington 12.92% 13.84% 13.84% N/AUniv. of Wisconsin 7.55% 10.15% 8.25% 10.34%Note. retrieved from http://hr.uoregon.edu/policy/diversity.html


• ‘Penn State University Guidelines for Recruiting A Diverse Workforce’– Training committee members how to recognize different forms of diversity

– include more candidates from underrepresented group

– be cognizant of bias during each step of the recruiting process

– articulate to all applicants that PSU is an open and welcoming environment

– seek out minority candidates by various strategies that reach diverse populations


Comprehensive Analysis


Comprehensive Analysis

• Lack of demographic diversity contributes to the party school image at Penn State


Comprehensive Analysis• High risk drinking behavior is relative to the demographics of the

university

– HBCU vs. PWI

• White students at HBCUs drink less drinks per week than White students at PWIs

• Positive correlations exist that indicate that the more underrepresented students there are on campus, the less drinking that occurs.

• Institutional culture plays a significant role in the party school image

– THON, Pan-Hellenic Sororities, Fraternities, and Football are valued

• All of these are dominated by White students and have history to indicate that alcohol is a large factor in the lives of students involved

– White male students represent the cultural bearers of the institution.

• The social constructs that exist that serve as relief from academics are geared towards White male collegiate activities.


Recommendations


Recommendations

• Combating Alcohol Abuse Holistically

• Combating Penn State’s Party School Reputation

• Building Diversity at Penn State

• Fostering Inclusive Campuses

• Imploring Our Leaders to Lead


References


Questions?

Task Force Members

Phillip Blackman

Emil Cunningham

Amanda Knerr

Lindsay Northup-Moore

Seung Wan Nam

Amy Salinas Westmoreland

Joint Task Force Report Sponsored By: The Governor of Pennsylvania &

Documents

student experience

year student

student violations05

alcohol use

alcohol violationstable

alcohol related death

pulse student drinking

penn statereality